Agenda Text
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In support of the Fair Share Amendment.
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Official Text
WHEREAS: In order to support working families and build a stronger economy for us all, we must provide quality public schools for our children, affordable public higher education, and a reliable transportation system; and
WHEREAS: Major investments in public education are needed to help students recover academically, socially, and emotionally from the COVID-19 pandemic; and
WHEREAS: Students need a well-rounded education, founded on a rich and varied curriculum that includes science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), music, art, and athletics; and
WHEREAS: Tuitions and fees at our public colleges are among the highest in the country, and students are often forced to take on enormous debt to receive a degree; and
WHEREAS: The people of Massachusetts require and deserve a modern, reliable transportation: public transportation that works, safe ways to walk and bike around town, safer roads and bridges; and
WHEREAS: Housing, jobs, and climate justice are all interconnected by and reliant upon our transportation system, and a reliable, strong, equitable transit system is fundamental to our collective livelihoods and economic justice; and
WHEREAS: We have a large backlog of neglected and structurally compromised bridges, tunnels, roads, and public transportation infrastructure in need of repair; and
WHEREAS: New state revenue is necessary to rebuild crumbling roads and bridges, improve our public schools from Pre-K through college, invest in fast and reliable public transportation, make public higher education affordable again, and expand opportunities for healthy walking and bicycling; and
WHEREAS: Our commonwealth required such new investments in our transportation and public education systems even before the COVID-19 pandemic, and now those investments are needed more than ever to lift our economy into an equitable and long-lasting recovery; and
WHEREAS: Our Commonwealth’s highest-income residents, who have seen their collective net worth skyrocket in recent years, pay a lower percentage of their income in state and local taxes than do the rest of us, and have the ability to pay their fair share for the investments we all need; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT
RESOLVED: That the Somerville City Council supports the proposed Fair Share Amendment that would create an additional tax of four percentage points on annual income above one million dollars and dedicate the funds raised by this tax to quality public education, affordable public colleges and universities, and for the repair and maintenance of roads, bridges, and public transportation.